Mechanism for feeding blanks, sheets, and the like.



E. w. LABOMBAR-DE. MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BLANKS, SHEETS,

AND THE LIKE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 21,1907. L1 1,820.

Patented Dec. .12, 1911.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1 E. W. LABOMBARDE.

MEGHANISM FOR FEEDING BLANKS, SHEETS, AND THE LIKE. APP'LIOATION FILEDJUNE 21,1907.

1,01 1,820. Patented Dec.12,1911.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

E. W. LABOMBARDE. MEGHANISM FOR FEEDING BLANKS, SHEETS, AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21. 1907.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

4 SHEETSSH.EET 3.

Zifiwsses: javamior:

Jam 3? E. W. LABOMBARDE.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BLANKS, SHEETS, AND THE LIKE. 1,01 1 820.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

APPLLGATION FILED JUNE 21, 1907.

ZZnesaea ELIE W. LABOMBARDE, OF NASHU'A, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

MECHANISM FUR FEEDING BLANKS, SHEETS, AND THE LIKE.

"Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

Applif tion filed June 21, 1907. Serial No. 380,067

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ELIE WV. LABOMBARDE, of Nashua, in the county ofHillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and usefulMechanism for Feeding Blanks, Sheets, and the Like, of which thefollowing is a specification.

'l\ y invention relates to mechanisms for feeding blanks, sheets or thelike, such for example as mechanism employed to feed paper box blanks toa box folding machine.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved mechanism of thischaracter.

The main feature of my invention resides in the combination with atraveling conveyer adapted to support a stack of blanks or the like, ofa gage adjacent to said conveyer and separated therefrom so as to leavea passageway for a blank between the gage and conveyer and one or morestack-shap ng stops for guiding the blanks under the gage.

In the best form of my invention two stack-shaping stops are employedone at each side of the gage for beveling the front end of the stack.That is, theblanks are de posited upon that portion of the conveyer thatis traveling toward the gage and said conveyer acts to carry the blankstoward the gage and thereby forces the front end of the stack againstthe stack-shaping stops which shape or bevel the stack so that thebottom or first blank is guided under the gage. The bottom blank beingtherefore unrestrained by the gage is fed forward under the latter bythe traveling conveyer. The gage 1s positioned or adjusted with relationto the conveyer so that only one blank can pass thereunder at one time,the other blanks being held back until the first blank has been fedforward whereupon the next bank is fed forward immediately behind thefirst.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of amechanism for feeding blanks or sheets embodying one form of myinvention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig.3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a. section on line 443ofFig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side elevation, on enlarged scale, of thegage;.Figs. 6 and]are,respectively, side and rear elevations of analternative form of stop.

Having reference to the drawings, the

I conveyer' referred to above, is made up of a plurality of endlessbelts or supported by adrivingdrum a" and a'roller a journaled looselyat its ends in bearings on the frame end it carries a pinion 6 0* byascrew 0 of the machine. a to which is fixed a pulley a connected by abelt a with a pulley a fast to a driving shaft (4 Through theconnections described the shaft a acts to continuously drive theconveyer a in the direction of the arrow in F ig. 4. Between the drum aand roller a is a loose shaft a to which is fixed a plurality of flangedrollers a that serve not only to guide the belts on but also as supportsfor said belts.

The blanks are placed in a pile or stack A on the conveyer a and saidconveyer feeds the blanks forward one at a time and delivers them to apair of feed rolls Z and b which in turn feed the blanks farther forwardand entirely away from the conveyer so that the second blank does notovertake the first blank. The roll 6 is .made at its ends with trunnionseach journaled in a. block b sliding freely in a vertical .slot or way 6provided on the frame of the machine, so that the may be assistedby'sprlng action, serves to hold said roll against roll 6. The roll 6 isj ournaled at its ends in the frame and at one meshing with a pinion bon roll 5 and also with an inter mediate or idle pinion F2 driven by agear 6 fixed to-shaft M. It will thus be seen that shaft a also servesthrough the gear and pinion connection just described, to continuouslydrive the rolls 1) and b in the directions of the arrows, Fig. 4, sothat as soon as the front end of a blank is presented to them by theconveyer a they engage said blank and feed it forward away from theconveyer.

The gage above referred to consists of a hard steel blade 0 fastened ina holder 0 by a clamping screw 0 Holder 0 is made with a shank c that isclamped to a bracket extending through a slot 0 in shank 0 J ournaled inthe upper end of shank is a screw 0 whose lower threaded end engages atapped hole 0 in bracket 0*. Between the head of shank c and bracket 0*is a spring 6' inclosing screw 0 operating screw 0 the blade 0 may be adjusted with relation to conveyer a according to the thickness of blanktobe handled." The frame ofv the machine includes a bar 65.

above and extending.

4 across the conveyer a and thls bar 1s made with a slot d through.

which extends a'stud 0 threaded at end weight of roll 6 which- It willthus be seen that by loosening screw 0 and The drum n is on a shaft toreceive a nut a by means of which bracket 0 is clamped to cross-bar d.

Herein I have shown two stack-shaping stops f one at each side of gage cand each of these'stops is a tongue or strip of spring metal bent nearits middle into the shape shown in Fig. 4. The upper end of each stop isclamped to a bracket f by a plate f and screw f Each bracket'f is madewith a stud f, Fig. 2, extending through slot d in crossbar d, andcarrying a nut f by means of which the bracket is clamped rigidly tosaid cross-bar. Each bracket f carries a screw f bearing at its lowerend against the lower part of its'respective stop 7 so that by adjustingsaid screw the space between the lower end of the stop and conveyer amay be accurately adjusted the resiliency of-the stop serving to raisesaid lower end and screw 1 serving to force said end downward. Acheck-nut f serves to lock screw f in adjusted position and assists alsoin clamping the stop f to the bracket.

Variations in the shape of the blanks being handled require changes inthe relation of the stops f to the gage 0 and as will be obvious theconstruction described permits of placing the gage and stops in anydesired relation by adjustment along slot d. For the same reason it isnecessary to adjust the stops 7 toward and from the stack A andtherefore each stop is made with slots f through which screws f and fextend so that when said screw f and nut f are loosened said stops maybe adjusted in this direction as required by the shape of blank.

Extending through the two stretches of conveyer belts on are two pairsof cross-bars g fastened. at their endsto the frame of the machine andsupportedby these cross-bars are two side gages j which position thestack A and guide the blanks as they are fed forward. On each gage j aremounted two bolts j whose'lower ends extend down between bars 9 and areprovided below the latter with heads j At theirupper ends the bolts y"are threaded to receive hand nuts 7' by means of which the gages areclamped in position with provision for adj ustment toward and fromconveyer a.

To the cross-bars g are fixed two slotted bars k that have clamped tothem by means of bolts h, a flame h carrying a loose roller it on whichthe rear end of the stack is supported at a greater elevation than thefront end so that the blanks tend to slide by gravity down against thegage c and stops f by which'they are properly posit'ioned. f course withsmall blanks the roll h need not be used but it may be adjusted to aconsiderable extent with relation to the gage a and stops faccording tothe size of blank by loosening bolts h and adjusting the latter alongbars k. Pins k on frame 77. by engaging bars h prevent frame it swingingon bolts h. The adjacent flanges e of the two middle rolls a" areenlarged to form a wheel which serves as a rigid abutment rotating atthe same speed as the belts or and as shown in Fig. 3 this wheel. aprojects up through the conveyor and cooperates with gage c incontrolling the feed. of the blanks. The lower ends of the stack shapersf are practically in contact with the conveyer belts (z and thereforewhen a blank is carried forward by the latter it is forced past saidshapers f which yield to allow its passage as does also the material ofthe conveyer a which is made of a yielding material such as rubbercomposition.

Different styles of paper box blanks vary greatly in outline, somehaving a straight side which can be placed at the front of the stack soas to require the lower ends of shapers f and gage c to be set inalinement over wheel a and rolls a". On the other hand the edges of theblanks at the front of the stack will sometimes be made up of notchesand tongues so that the shapers f will be offset with relation to gagec, that is they will be set to the left or to the right (Fig. at) of thegage. 'ilherefore it will be clear that in order to adapt the machine tohandle blanks of different sizes and shapes, 1 have provided a structurethat very conveniently provides for universal relative adjustment of theshapers and gage c as well as individual adjustment of said parts forblanks of different thickness. A peculiar feature of the gage c is thatits lower blank engaging end is a knife edge extending transversely ofthe carrier so that the passageway for the blank is concentrated so tospeak at the edge of the knife and moreover the friction on the top ofthe blank is reduced to the minimum.

Located between the gage c and the rolls 7 7) is a loose roller mextending across and resting upon the top stretch of carrier (1 so thatthe movement of the latter con stantly rotates said roll. This roll m ismade at its ends with trunnions turning freely in vertical slotsprovided in the lower by carrier a it passes under roll m which holdssaid advance end down onto the carrier and guides it accurately betweenthe two rolls F), b, said roll m yielding upwardly as the blank passesunder it. The peculiarity of this roll m is that it is constantly inmotion at a surface speed the same as the carrier so that when itengages a blank the latter is not retarded or displaced by contact witha roll normally at rest as heretofore.

Figs. 6 and 7 show another form of stackshaping stop wherein instead ofthe resiliv by a bolt, 70', to a bar is ent tongue 7'' above described asteel-roll k is provided. This roll 7 is clamped rigidly secured withprovision for Vertical adjustment to a bar 70 which in turn isfastened'with provision for horizontal adjustment to a bracket isadapted to be mounted on bar 05. Clamped to roll k by bolt 70' is adeflector k which bevels the stack like the inclined tongues f. Theblank engaging surface of roll k' is roughened by nurling as shown inFig. 7 and the purpose of this is to cause the exposed surface of theroll between the lower end'of the deflector k and carrier (1 toproperlyrestrain and hold back all of the lowermost blanks of the stack exceptthe bottom blank. 'Besides shapingthe stack the deflector 70 serves; toguide the front ends of the blanks under roll is and prevent .clo Ingehat Iclaim is: 1, In a machine for feeding box blanks or the like thecombination of a conveyer on which a stack of blanks are supported; agage in frontof said stack for controlling the feed of the blanks; oneor more stackshapi-ng stops alongside said gage; a rotatable supportacross and beneath the conveyer to support the latter adjacent thestops; and a rotatable wheel projecting through the conveyer tocooperate with the a e. r g The combination with" a conveyer adapted'to'support a stack ofblanks of a stac -sha ing stop consisting of aninclined tongue 0 spring metal; a bracke'tto which said tongue isfastened at one end with the other end of the tongue cooperating withthe conveyer, and a I screw engaging the tongue intermediate its endsfor adjusting the lower end 'of the tongue with relation tothe conveyer.

3. In a feed mechanism of the character described the combination of aconveyer adapted to support a stack of blanks; one or more stack-shapingstops in front. of the stack against which the latter is held by themovement of the conveyer and. co6per; ting with the conveyer toyieldingly o p pose the feeding of a blank;'a gage and an abutmentcooperating therewith to control the feed of the blanks, said gage andabutment permitting only a single blank to pass at a time and saidconveyer acting frictionally to carry said blank between the gage andabutment and force'it past the stack-shaping stops; and means to providefor forward and rearward relative adjustment between the gage and thestop or stops in a direction parallel tov the line of feed and accordingto variation in the shape of blank being handled. v

4. In .a machine for feeding box blanks or the like the combination of aconveyer on which a stack of blanks are supported, a gage at the frontend of the stack to control the feed of the blanks; a stop at the frontend of the stack; and an idle roll supporting and permanently elevatingthe rear end of the stack.-

EILIE W. LABOMBARDE. VVitne'ssesz' ARTHUR F. RANDALL, MARY G. HENNESBY.

